Aha.... in another view of the motor cycle shop posted earlier it shows the street sign for the sideroad as Sun Street, so I didnt imagine it... any ideas where this was?
Great pics, thanks so much guys it's bought back so many memories ..
the white shop on the corner by the lights, looking down atherton street was the best toy shop around for spending your weekly chore money at. On the same block was a greengrocers and we kids were often sent to buy "chats" and a turnip. I also remember the astor being a nightclub for a short whilebut this was later during the middle 70s, i cant remember what it was called.
The marriotts one is brill ty. Just to the right of the door was a long counter which we kids were allowed to sit on sometimes & around the corner on lowther st was a double gate through which we used to watch the bikes being mended. Marriotts frontage was On back bentick street and the next shop up was a barbers, we once stole his bubblegum machine took it round the back entry behind the shop and when it broke open all the bubblies rolled down the hill & we were caught red handed Next door to him on the corner of fox street was len the butchers, NExt corner up was the bookies then houses then a sweetie shop ( a quarter of sports mixtures for a tanner.)
The shop to the right of marriotts (carters) was no 2 lowther street & my friend diane smith lived there, they thought they were posh and NEver got biddies, (or so her mother swore).
Thanks for sharing those memories, Razzi. However, I'm now confused. I thought Marriotts fronted onto Exmouth st. I can't find a Back Bentinck St. on the map; did you perhaps mean Back Exmouth St?, that's where No.2 Lowther St. is, but looking at a map (from about 1955) there don't seem to be any frontages to Back Exmouth St., only onto Bright, Fox,& Lowther streets. I've attached the map I'm looking at.
In another of the photo's of Marriots, taken looking up the road, shows the street sign for the road between Marriots and Carters( also visible in the posted pic), as being "Sun Street" looking at the maps, I still cant figure out where exactly this is... Either its the Bentinck Street end or Exmouth Street end of the block. Though I have it in my head that it may have been Exmouth street end.
Well, given that the street between Marriott's & Carter's is Sun St., Here's another map which may help, 'cos it gives the numbering. If it's Exmouth St, which I think it is, Marriott's will be Nos. 64, 66, 68 & maybe 70. Carter's will be 62. If it's Bentinck St., Marriott's will be 57 & 59. The reason I think it's Exmouth St. is that it was a mainly shopping street, whereas Bentinck St. was residential.
Razzi: You used a phrase I haven't heard since leaving school a LONG time ago. "Biddies". There was an unfortunate girl in our class at primary school who was thought to carry various forms of wildlife around in her scalp. She was just always known as Biddies. Kids can be so cruel. I guess that will never change. Who remembers the Nit Nurse ???
After having a family discussion maybe this is of help.
Apparently there was a Marriotts on Exmouth st during the 50s. On Chriskays map it would've occupied either numbers 73-77 or 81-85. It then moved, the shop frontage might of stayed tho as i remember as a kid there being a marriotts the chandlers on Exmouth street in that place 1966ish, maybe it was a case of not being able to change the sign?.
Nobody is admitting to knowing if Marriotts moved from there to sun st, numbers 64-66(which going by the pic it obviously did) but by 1969/70 the regeneration had started in ernest & altough the "odd" numbered side of Sun st to the left of the bisecting line was still there everything else from Craven st/exmouth st down to Conway street had been knocked down (the housing estate exmouth way etc now stands on this area. I believe it was at this time that Marriotts moved from the corner of sun st to Lowther st. Again going from Chriskays house number map everything to the right of the bisecting line had been emptied & ready to be demolished to make way for the new firestation, So Marriotts, not wanting to move out of the area moved up to the corner of Lowther/Bentick st no 92-94. i made a mistake last time , sorry, i left off the number 3 making 32 lowther st, which i have now been told was the number of the flat above carters in which my friend lived (i lived at number36) & marriotts stood on the opposite corner being number 92-94. The frontage was painted red & blue so i've been told, but it was most certainly there, Apparently my cousin (who lived in no 111 craven st) took his bSA bike there to be fixed as it was right down the back entry. We moved under a compulsory purchase order in 1974 & i think that was also the year that Marriotts moved to where they are now in Oxton road.
Hope this helps clarify things a bit, thanks for all the replies. Gosh. This has been interesting.
Well, thanks, Razzi.The mystery deepens. Comparing the first photo of Marriott's with the negative one, (which locates it for certain at the Sun St. corner), they are identical with regard to the location of the various posters/notices stuck on the windows and various other details. This means that at that time, Carter's, in the same pic., was at No.62 Exmouth St. I guess it was at the time of the clearance of the area, (thanks for that info. Razzi), that Carter's moved to Lowther St., because their side of Sun St. was demolished. Marriott's side remained, so their move to Bentinck St. could have been later. Does this make sense? Even more family discussion may be needed, Razzi.
I suspect this isnt going to help clear things up, but I have my suspicions that there were three "shops" all under the same name on Exmouth street..
Walter, had the Yard at what I believe to be 17 Exmouth street , which backed onto the house on Atherton Street, as well as a couple of other shops, one on Borough Road and one on Hinson Street.
Freddy had the motorcycle shop at ( in the time of these pics anyway) 64-66
I also believe David had some business or other located nearby.
I do have a pic somewhere, but that will take some digging to locate.
The pics as far as I am aware are all from the mid 60's.
Yes. They do look like one & the same i admit. Only thing i can remember about Sun st tho was that on the left hand corner on the odd side Sun/craven st end there was a small sweetie/general shop.
To be honest, thinking about it i dont remember it as being CArters. From around 1965, altough the shop itself was still there, the windows had been sort of filmed over & the smiths had moved from the flat upstairs to take it over & what would've once been the shop had become the back living room. shop.
wish i could find a photograph showing the shops on Exmouth street during the later 60s (1969 ish). Have been looking for photos of all of that area for a while now, but they are few and far between.
Still, it has been fun, thanks again for all the help
Ahh, maybe that's the answer.More than one Marriott, would like to see those photos Phil, if you can root them out.
Phew, Thought it best to go right to the top, so i cheekily e-mailed Marriotts on Oxton rd to see if they had any records of where the original shops were .
Me ...
Message: Hi. I know this sounds a strange question, But we are discussing Fred Marriotts former shops on wikiwirral.co.uk & we can't decide wether he had a shop or shops on Sun st/bentick st or Lowther st/Bentick or even Exmouth st during the 1950/60s. I wondered if it would be possible for you to have a look through your records and see if you have any addresses for marriotts motorcycles for these areas, as i could swear when i was a kid, freds shop was on the corner of Bentick/lowther st. Thanks for your time.
They kindly sent me this reply.
Hi Karyn Yes there was a yard on Exmouth street/Gladstone street which was bill marriott(fred's father)which traded in second had goods, then fred bought the old co-op which was on Exmouth street/sun street which he had the motorcycle shop. The shop then moved bentinck street (compulsory purchased) and then to Oxton Road, the former Birkenhead brewery where we still are to this day and is owned by Glyn marriott fred's son. Hope this helps Cheers Gareth
Hope this is of interest, lol & glad to know i'm not going mad afterall.
Nitty Norah the biddy explorer!![[Linked Image]](https://www.images.wikiwirral.co.uk/forum/12258.jpg)
